JV DAY 4 : KINGFISHER2 CLOCKS UP 535 MILES IN 24 HOUR RUN...
Absender: "Team Kingfisher"
Datum: 02. Feb 2003 11:26
SUMMARY: 0700 GMT 2.2.03
Position: 30 9' N 24 37' W (369 nm north-west of Canaries)
Ahead/Behind the record: 4 hours 55 minutes behind Orange
DAY 3 24 hour run (point to point) : Kingfisher2 535 nm, Orange 442 nm, Geronimo 503 nm
End DAY 3 distance to go : KF 23479nm, Orange 23400, Geronimo 23315
Click on POSITIONS link at http://www.teamkingfisher.com to see graphic images comparing the tracks of these 3 challengers at 4 hourly intervals.
Av/Max boat speed in last hour: 10.5 / 24.5 knots [gennaker dropped for small repair]
Av/Max wind speed in last hour: 8.63 / 20.5 knots
Wind direction: 049
Distance to Equator: 1829nm (theorectical shortest distance)
IN BRIEF:
* KINGFISHER2 has clocked up their best 24 hour run so far - 535 nautical miles - averaging boat speed 22.3 knots. Ellen and her crew made some good gains over the last 24 hours to make up some time and position them only 4 hours 55 minutes behind the record (although 10 hours 15 minutes behind the track of Geronimo).
* "It is certainly warmer - everyone is down to one set of thermals and we approximately about 3 hours off Tenerife so doing all right, unfortunately the breeze might not continue today though..."
* Weather looks set to go lighter today due to a depression off the African coast, KINGFISHER2 may be forced to harden up and reach south to indextain her speed as teh wind decreases, and switches further North.
* "The whole world feels a long way from us - you deal with today, that's how you live on board. It is hard to connect with anything happening on land - it really shocks you when you hear the reality of what's going on out there." (Ellen in response to hearing the news of the space shuttle Colombia disaster)
* HEALTH OF THE CREW : "Hervé is awful (having come down with same cold/chest infection as some of the other crew) but BiBi (Benoit) and Bruno are much better. We are just hoping no one else gets it now - so everyone is wanting to eat the few reindexing satsumas we have on board (last of the fresh food, for sure!). I'm much better - still not 100% and it is an effort to do anything on deck. Managed to sleep for 3 hours last night - hope to be back on form in a few days.”
* EMAIL NEWS below from Ellen (Life As A Navigator) and Andrew Preece on the value of experienced watch leaders...
* CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Benoit Briand, Sail Maker and Trimmer, was also crewman on board 'Orange' in their last successful Jules Verne record attempt...
Listen to Ellen's latest audio this morning... Visit http://www.teamkingfisher.com and click on the 'Audio' icon on the menu bar or download from http://www.ocftp.com/audio/em020203a_uk.mp3
Kingfisher operating company of the day BRICO DEPOT : Brico Dépot is a growing French Home Improvement chain, primarily serving experienced home craftsmen and small building contractors.
http://www.brico-depot.com
EMAIL FROM ELLEN
The life of the navigator!!
Well, things hae been going well today - albeit the danger of a low pressure sucking way some fo our wind tomorrow. We hve seen our first flying fish today - though I can't say that I'm party to that - as I've been down below for all but half an hour of today. It's now 0217, it's a beautiful night outside on deck as we cream south in the early signs of the trade winds. Things are definitley warmer, though there is a nasty perpetual draft coming out of KINGFISHER2's back beam, so it's not so easy to doze in the nav station without a sleeping bag! Funnily enough - Andrew in the media station is draftless, but on the other gybe things will change.
We're smoking today with a good breezefrom the NE, and KINGFISHER2 seemsto be rocketing along. We've already passed the island of Madeira - whcih seems unbelievable after less than 3 days at sea. This sure is the way to travel! My index concern is whether the wind will die soon. We have positioned ourselves in the west so that if the wind goes lighter tomorrow we will still be able to sail higher and faster. I hope that the ligter wind does not materialise - but we're ready for it if it does - and we should not be slowed too badly because of it. It's always hard to make a decision how we are going to position ourselves. So far the wetaher models have not been incredibly accurate- which has not really helped us in our quest for the optial route. Yesterday morning we had a wind shift of 30 degrees - which hppenned in the space of a few seconds. Though the wind has fluctuated sine then it has never returned to it's previous diretion - which wa frustrating as I'd been up nearly the entire night planning the moment we should gybe! But somehow you know that the day you ignore their information they will come up and bite you - so right now we're being a bit more cautious than maybe we would like to be...
Humour is excellent - and poeple are already begining to appreciate the more simple things in lfe like the final few satsumas we have left over from our trip to the start line. People are begining to use their Sony Clie's for e-mail - often there will be a little light glowing away in the bunks after a watch. Everyone is smiling - even BiBi who seems to be recovering from his chest cold. The only bad news is that Hervé seems to be going down with the same cold - but at least the weather is getting better. That's a big plus. Anyway - it's been a long night so far - and it's time I got some sleep... so I guess - till tomorrow!
Latest email from ANDREW PREECE, Media Comms, on the value of good Watch Leaders:
I think one thing that has been an enormous benefit to all of us over the last two days of brutal weather we have run straight into, has been the three watch leaders who have been running the deck of KINGFISHER2. Herve Jan, Neal McDonald and Guillermo Altadill were all with Grant Dalton when Club Med won The Race and it is comforting to know that all of them have been there, done that and know what is possible and some of what is impossible with these catamarans. When it comes to sail changes their choices are impeccable but when it comes to knowing how to save the boat, when to keep the boat speed down to 20 knots and how much apparent wind the big spinnaker can handle without bringing the mast down, their experience is vital.
All three of them have very different styles though all three are completely natural sailors. Neal is the engineer and naval architect who understands the loads in the mast, appreciates the scale of the slamming loads in the hulls as we pummel into the waves in more than 60 knots of true wind. Hervé Jan is the fisherman who is on his seventh lap of the planet and who innately feels the forces of nature and knows when to step on it and when to bow to bigger forces. Guillermo is the dinghy sailor with a feel for the wheel and how to make a boat go fast. In each of their own ways they have an understanding of what this is all about and how to make best speed without hammering the boat to pieces. These are vital skills, that all of the sailors on each of their watches respects utterly. Their word goes without question and when you are down below trying to sleep in the bowels of the bucking bronco, it is massively helpful to slumber to know that upstairs on deck is being by a safe pair of hands.
CREW MEMBER FOCUS: Benoit Briand (FRA) - Sailmaker/Trimmer/Helm
Benoit Briand (35) knows KINGFISHER2 well and what it feels like to sail one of these catamarans round the world - he should do, as he was one of the crew on board the same catamaran named 'Orange' that successfully broke the Jules Verne record last year setting the current record of 64 days, 8 hours, 37 minutes and 24 seconds. In many ways the offshore, non-stop round the world sailing is a new area for Benoit whose sailing career has focused on the finer skills of match racing including three America's Cups. In 2001 Benoit was part of the winning crew on board 'Groupama' in the ORMA 60 Multihull Grand Prix circuit.
Email Benoit direct on board KINGFISHER2 at benoitrace@kingfisherchallenges.com
PARTNER OF THE DAY - Insensys providing load sensing equipment to KINGFISHER2.
http://www.teamkingfisher.com/insensys
Kingfisher plc is one of Europe's leading retailers operating in the international home improvement and electrical and furniture markets. Kingfisher employs around 90,000 people in over 1,397 stores across 16 countries and includes some of the best known retail brands in Europe: B&Q and Comet in the UK and Castorama, Darty and BUT in France.
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